Briquetting method and apparatus



Jan. 29, 1963 E. H. SHIPLEY ETAL BRIQUETTING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Sept. 7. 1960 INVENTORS EARL H. SH/PLEY, FRANK SLAM/U? and ALFRED TEPL/TZ Unite States Paw O M 3,075,243 BRIQUETTING METHOD AND APPARATUS Earl H. Shipley, Hqrnewood, Ill.,'and FrankSlamar,

Monroeville, and Alfred Teplitz, Pittsburgmjfa assignorsto, United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 54,457

5, Claims- (Cl.- l. .9)

This n nti n relates t9, mproved thed and pp tu f b i ietfl s t pel di ided m a s.

Although our invention is not limited to the briquetting of any specific material, it is particularly useful for briquetting iron powder recovered from a fluidized bed direct reduction process. Finely divided iron" particles cannot be used directly in steel-making, but first must be agglomerated. Typical devices for agglomerating iron particles include a ram-type press in which a plunger compacts the powder in a die, a roll-type press in which powder is rolled into a strip or sheet, or a roll-type press in which powder is compacted into briquettes. Each type used heretofore has disadvantages. A ram-type press requires pressures as high as 20 tons per square inch, and the equipment is costly. The cost of dies is high, particularly when the particles are coarse and abrasive. A roll-type press which produces a flat product compacts the product non-uniformly. The edges of the product are less dense than the mid-portion, whereby subsequent handling breaks off too many fines which must be reclaimed and recycled. A roll-type press whose rolls have cavities to produce individual briquettes decreases the quantity of fines, but requires a feeder device to precompact the powder before it reaches the rolls. Feeder devices with which we are familiar have been troublesome to operate and costly to maintain.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved briquetting method and apparatus which overcome the foregoing disadvantages, that is, which are inexpensive to operate and maintain, yet compact finely divided particles into briquettes of relatively uniform density and produce a minimum of fines.

A further object is to provide an improved briquetting method and apparatus in which finely divided materials first are compacted into a continuous notched bar in a set of preliminary compression rolls, the bar is further compacted in a set of seconday compression rolls, and finally the bar is broken at the notches to form individual briquettes.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, we have provided improved details of structure, a preferred form of which is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which the single figure is a diagrammatic perspective view of a briquetting apparatus constructed in accordance with our invention.

Our apparatus comprises a rigid frame 10 in which we journal an opposed set of preliminary compression rolls 12 and an opposed set of secondary compression rolls 13. The preliminary rolls are located above the secondary and both sets are power-driven by any suitable means, such as a motor 14 and power transmitting means 15 illustrated. The two preliminary rolls have respective grooves 16 extending around their circumferences. Each groove 16 contains a plurality of circumferentially spaced notching lugs 17 arranged so that the lugs on the two rolls mate, but have limited clearance from each other. The two secondary rolls have respective smooth faced grooves 18 which extend around their circumferences. Grooves 16 and 18 define vertically aligned upper and lower passes.

Above the preliminary rolls 12 we mount a feed hopper 19 from which we continuously feed finely divided mate rial M into the upper pass defined by grooves 16. As the ice 2 material travels through this pass, the preliminary rolls compact it into a continuous bar B which contains a series t aced pteh s N f rm d wh ha engage bar next t a e hro we p ss defined y ir es 1.8 in he seconda y ol s 1 T e'l rolls further Qmpat the ma ri l exc p n th on f t e notches. Beneath the. ec n y ol s. We mo t a'breaker plate 20 hich ha a. cu ved upper s r ace f er h bar le the seconda y ro s t en ages surfa e and hus breaks a e ch Tact-c a form indi i ua b ique 1- fia shd rique es. dro n o a su le're v r, suc a a sto ge h ppe 2.1, at t e b 't m f th ram f m ...s. n" ls 12 co pact the. p e into a ch has a'iiniformdensity of about 40 percent of maximum solid density, except at the notches where the density is about 50 percent of maximum. Our secondary compression rolls further compact the bar to a density of about 70 to percent of maxi-mum, except at the notches where the density remains about 50 precent of maximum for easy breakage. Thus we produce briquettes of almost uniform density, and we do so with simple equipment easy to operate and maintain.

While we have shown and described only a single embodiment of the invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, we do not Wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A method of briquetting finely divided material comprising compacting the material into a continuous bar having a series of notches spaced along the axis of the bar, further compacting the notched bar except at the notches to enable the bar to be broken more easily at the notches than along the remainder of its length, and breaking the bar at each of the notches to form individual briquettes.

2. A method of briquetting finely divided material comprising compacting the material into a continuous bar, forming a series of notches in the bar spaced along the axis of the bar and initially compacted to a greater density than the remainder of the bar, further compacting the bar except at the notches to a greater density than the density at the notches to enable the bar to be broken more easily at the notches than along the remainder of its length, and breaking the bar at each of the notches to form individual briquettes.

3. A briquetting apparatus comprising a set of opposed preliminary compression rolls, a set of opposed secondary compression rolls, means supporting said rolls with the preliminary rolls above the secondary rolls, drive means operatively connected to said rolls, said rolls having re spective grooves which define aligned passes, notch-forming means carried by said preliminary rolls, means for feeding material through said passes successively, and breaker means located below said secondary rolls.

4. A briquetting apparatus comprising a set of opposed preliminary compression rolls, a set of opposed secondary compression rolls, means supporting said rolls with the preliminary rolls above the secondary rolls, drive means operatively connected to said rolls, said rolls having respective grooves which extend around their circumferences and define upper and lower aligned passes, notching lugs carried by at least one of said preliminary rolls and spaced around the groove therein, means for feeding material through said passes successively, said preliminary rolls being adapted to compact the material into a continuous bar which has notches spaced along its length, said secondary rolls being adapted further to compact the bar except at its notches, breaker means located below said secondary rolls {for breaking the bar at its notches into a e te Jan. 29., 196

of br que in i on po d r, o p e:

individual briquettes, and means for receiving said briquettes.

5. A briquetting apparatus comprising a set of opposed preliminary compression rolls, a set of opposed secondary compression rolls, means supporting said rolls with the preliminary rolls above the secondary rolls, drive means operatively connected to said rolls, said rolls having respective grooves which extend around their circumferences and define upper and lower aligned passes, notching lugs carried by said preliminary rolls and spaced around the grooves therein, the lugs on one roll being arranged to mate with those on the other but having limited clearance therefrom, the grooves in said secondary rolls being smooth-faced, means for feeding material through said passes successively, said preliminary rolls being adapted to compact. the material into a continuous bar which has notches spaced along its length, said secondary rolls being adapted further to compact the bar except at its notches, a breaker plate fixed below said secondary rolls and having a curved surface adapted to be contacted by said bar for breaking the bar at its notches into individual briquettes, and means for receiving said briquettes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 9,455 Pond Dec. 7, 1852 1,330,434 Ekberg Feb. 10, 1920 2,075,735 Loomis Mar. 30, 1937 2,183,196 Kohler Dec. 12, 1939 2,497,212 Donofrio Feb. 14, 1950 2,708,300 Buttress May 17, 1955 2,717,419 Dickey Sept. 13, 1955 p FOREIGN PATENTS I 1 528,872 Germany] July 7, 1931 

1. A METHOD OF BRIQUETTING FINELY DIVIDED MATERIAL COMPRISING COMPACTING THE MATERIAL INTO A CONTINUOUS BAR HAVING A SERIES OF NOTCHES SPACED ALONG THE AXIS OF THE BAR, FURTHER COMPACTING THE NOTCHED BAR EXCEPT AT THE NOTCHES TO ENABLE THE BAR TO BE BROKEN MORE EASILY AT THE NOTCHES THAN ALONG THE REMAINDER OF ITS LENGTH, AND BREAKING THE BAR AT EACH OF THE NOTCHES TO FORM INDIVIDUAL BRIQUETTES. 